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And we really can't ignore the economic issues at work here. A parent working a couple of jobs to feed multiple kids, who doesn't really have the time or resources to prepare healthy, fresh meals, is much more likely to have an obese child. Yes, it's possible to eat a plant-based diet relatively inexpensively, but it requires a lot of time and education. It's much, much easier to drive your kid through McDonald's, or to get some frozen dinners, or to buy a big pack of chicken thighs and fry them up, since they're a quick and cheap source of protein. All of those things are much more readily available, too. It's really a bit of a luxury in today's world to eat healthily.

Who knows, it could just be a regional thing. Fresh fruits and vegetables are practically my back door. Meaning, I can go to any grocery store around here and see fruits and vegetables just there. I mean, then again, Napa (and the surrounding farming counties considering I live and breath in the Central Valley) is just a while a drive away from my county. My family also grows some "non-essential" vegetables in our backyard so that we don't need to buy them at the store like red chile peppers, scallions, limes, peach, [some giant melon I can't name,] and a few other vegetables that we often use to make soup. The red chile peppers and scallions have been there since I was a kid, and when we moved, it went with us.

Heck, if I was more into willing to learn to grow plants, I'd probably help my family grow a few others that I'd like (tomatoes and bell peppers.)

And we really can't ignore the economic issues at work here. A parent working a couple of jobs to feed multiple kids, who doesn't really have the time or resources to prepare healthy, fresh meals, is much more likely to have an obese child. Yes, it's possible to eat a plant-based diet relatively inexpensively, but it requires a lot of time and education. It's much, much easier to drive your kid through McDonald's, or to get some frozen dinners, or to buy a big pack of chicken thighs and fry them up, since they're a quick and cheap source of protein. All of those things are much more readily available, too. It's really a bit of a luxury in today's world to eat healthily.

Maybe these people should have had fewer kids since they're unable to care for them properly. It's just a thought.

I believe feeding your children a diet like this borders on abuse.

"We grow up thinking that﻿ beliefs are something to be proud of, but they're really nothing but opinions one refuses to reconsider. Beliefs are﻿ easy. The stronger your beliefs are, the less open you are to growth and wisdom, because "strength of belief" is only the intensity with which you resist questioning yourself. As soon as you are proud of﻿ a belief, as soon as you think it adds something to who you are, then you've made it a part of your ego."

Who knows, it could just be a regional thing. Fresh fruits and vegetables are practically my back door. Meaning, I can go to any grocery store around here and see fruits and vegetables just there. I mean, then again, Napa (and the surrounding farming counties considering I live and breath in the Central Valley) is just a while a drive away from my county. My family also grows some "non-essential" vegetables in our backyard so that we don't need to buy them at the store like red chile peppers, scallions, limes, peach, [some giant melon I can't name,] and a few other vegetables that we often use to make soup. The red chile peppers and scallions have been there since I was a kid, and when we moved, it went with us.

Heck, if I was more into willing to learn to grow plants, I'd probably help my family grow a few others that I'd like (tomatoes and bell peppers.)

I doubt the folks in Napa have to contend with things like 'food deserts'.

"The views of absolutists and purists everywhere should be noted in fierce detail, then meticulously and thoroughly printed onto my toilet paper ply."

I doubt the folks in Napa have to contend with things like 'food deserts'.

Pretty much, not to mention the pretty good weather that happens in the Northern Central Valley. But believe it or not, there ARE fruits and vegetables that can be grown in the South (maybe not right now because of the drought.... but... Northern California suffered a drought a while ago) You just either have to look for a tolerable plant, or create a greenhouse.

Southern Central Valley has an even drier climate than the Northern Central Valley(not enough water, I mean, they do take water from Northern California.) They can still grow fruits and vegetables. But for a bit of them, they have to improvise.

Pretty much, not to mention the pretty good weather that happens in the Northern Central Valley. But believe it or not, there ARE fruits and vegetables that can be grown in the South (maybe not right now because of the drought.... but... Northern California suffered a drought a while ago) You just either have to look for a tolerable plant, or create a greenhouse.

Southern Central Valley has an even drier climate than the Northern Central Valley(not enough water, I mean, they do take water from Northern California.) They can still grow fruits and vegetables. But for a bit of them, they have to improvise.

Correct, which is why I suggested horticultural programs as a more functional alternative to an ad campaign.

"The views of absolutists and purists everywhere should be noted in fierce detail, then meticulously and thoroughly printed onto my toilet paper ply."

The ads aren't too harsh in my opinion, but aimed at the wrong place. We need ad campaigns aimed at parents. The kids are just victims to the diets pushed on them by the school system and their parents and an agricultural industry that puts cheapness ahead of healthiness.

A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions. - Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

Correct, which is why I suggested horticultural programs as a more functional alternative to an ad campaign.

How do you suggest we go about that? Unless we can change the minds of those people who are willing to change something, it won't change. Which also brings me into my next point, culture.

Go to a channel that talks mostly about food, and we'll already see how it works. Think Californian Food and you can bet someone will roll their eyes and see fruits and vegetables somewhere, think Southern Food and you can already picture some type of fried food. It isn't all true, but the strong stereotype is there.

We didn't get into this mess about California being too liberal for a reason. It chooses to enact laws that sound like more and more like regulation because it works here (try something that sounds stifling in another state and you'll already see that state cry liberal.)*

*Note: Toy banning for high calorie foods. Forcing fast-food places to post calorie count on their foods. Forcing the state to go towards green technology instead of the dependence on oil. Forcing schools to put a bit of gay history in books.

There are plenty of vegetables that can be grown in the South--my granddaddy had a garden, and he grew purple hull peas, sweet corn, tomatoes and a few other things. Most folks are too busy for a garden, though, especially if they're trying to work and raise kids. Lot of people wouldn't know how to start a garden, which is why horticulture classes wouldn't be a bad idea.

In the South, you're also fighting culture. Very few people are eating quinoa in my hometown. They might eat greens, but they're cooked in bacon fat. Dinner, when cooked at home, is meat-centric, and veggies are laden with fats and more meat.

@Lateralus, I agree people shouldn't keep having kids they can't really afford to support, but I think we're a lot less likely to make headway on that point than on changing their kids' diets.

As an aside, my sister always complains about how many sweets and junk foods her son's school gives the kids as rewards. They read a certain number of books, they get a pizza party. They have a million holiday parties with cookies and cupcakes. Everytime she turns around, her nine-year-old is telling her what treat they had at school that day. Furthermore, school lunches aren't healthy. I substituted in an elementary school a few years ago and quickly gained several pounds from just eating cafeteria food and changing nothing else in my diet.

I do think they need to take out the Pizza Huts and Burger Kings and everything out of school cafeterias, and not allow kids to purchase cokes and candy and chips from vending machines during lunch.